Chevy's Electric Car Caught on Camera

The product planners at Chevrolet may not think their new electric car is ready for its close-up, but the Volt has been caught on camera weeks before its expected official debut.

A spy from an Internet fan site for the upcoming film, "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," has posted a video purported to show the production version of the Chevrolet Volt during filming of the sequel to the 2007 blockbuster.

Like the original, the new film is full of vehicles from the Chevrolet brand that turn into good-guy robots known as Autobots who are caught in an intergalactic battle with their nemeses, the Decepticons.

The purplish blue car is seen being uncovered by crew members, then driven out of a parking lot under its own power. The name “Volt” is clearly visible on the rear of the car, and the design differs significantly from the concept version of the car originally shown at the 2007 North American International Auto Show.

The Volt is a major gamble for General Motors, which aims to be the first automaker to market a plug-in hybrid, and the first to offer a hybrid vehicle that is propelled solely on electrically generated power. Featuring an electric-only range of 40 miles, a small gasoline engine is on board only to charge the batteries on longer trips, but cannot move the car on its own like the engines in traditional hybrid vehicles.

General Motors will not confirm that the designe of the car seen in the video is in fact that of the production Volt, but with its unveiling rumored to take place during the company’s centennial celebration on Sept. 16, it's unlikely that they would be featuring a car in a movie premiering in June 2009 that is different from the production version that will be well-publicized before then.